Clearing out hatch drain holes
 

I need to replace the rear hatch-to-body seal on my S4. When it rains, the "well" surrounding the hatch seal floods, and water seeps through small tears in the seal into the spare tire well. I've duck taped where there tears are as a temporary solution (if you can't duck it, f*ck it). I would also like the hatch well to stop flooding. I've heard a common problem with the FC is that the drain holes for the hatch tend to clog easily. Where are the drain holes located, and what's the best way to unclog them?

The drain holes are at the "corners" of the body in the rear hatch area, they connect to rubber(?) hoses that run down the inside of your rear quarter panels. Take a compressor with an air gun nozle and blow them out. If that doesn't work, remove the hoses and replace 'em?

I combat clogged drain tubes using a clean dowel or BBQ skewer to prod and fish gunk out. While I'm doing this, I am allowing a small amount of water to drain through so I can check the extent of the clog and loosen up the crud. Obviously, if your drain tubes are torn, this is not really an option and replacing the tubes seems to be the best solution.

If your hatch seal is gone, replacing it is the way to go, but it's a bit of pain as the piece is pretty big.

Good luck.

i have to clean mine on a regular basis because of where I live...tree leaves, pine needles, bugs, and drirt all get cloggled in there

Same here. I just cleaned out the drain holes today. There was a puddle that iced up over one of the drain holes. When I pulled the ice out, it took a huge plug of dirt with it. Nasty.

Check your muffler for holes. My driver's side drain hose kept melting shut until I replaced the muffler.

HAHA I've had one melt shut on me too!

sucked.


I usually have to clean mine out 2 or 3 times every summer and once in the spring when I start driving the car.

A coathanger works well...

if you get into the practice of cleaning them monthly you'll probably never find them clogged

of course, in the winter they're totally useless since they fill with ice and clog.

Use a wire coat hanger or long wire to clean the passage out.

I used an old antenna to ram the crap out of mine.

Me too, used either a wire coat hanger or old antenna. Both work. Then run the hose to make sure to flush it all out. In the winter well hot water to make them melt? I know they will freeze back up, but that might help.

I used a coat hanger also, but the one car was really jammed up and just bent it, so I got the antenna :)

^^+1

Just use a wire coat hangar bent straight, you need about 2' ft of length and poke it through while spraying water through and you should see it comming out.